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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fan · sharp · snap · squash · race · chest · stick · field

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. field — a subject
  9. sharp — clever
  10. field — for sport
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. squash — the sport
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. race — a contest
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. race — humankind
  17. field — farmland
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. chest — a box
  20. race — the arms race
  21. squash — to crush
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to snap out of it

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com